Synchronicity
by Rietto
Summary: Len was sucked into the world of an unfinished story. Which is more important? Saving the dying Diva or escaping the fake paradise of Synchronicity?
1. Prologue

_He knew making excuses was a sign of weakness, but the boy figured that maybe just for that particular case he's allowed to make excuses. He was sure he had beaten the Dragon Woman, and he was sure the gigantic door that led to his twin was already opened somehow._

_He was sure he had seen her back._

_He was sure of all of it. He had fought, and won. He had found his princess, and just one step away from embracing her. Just one step away from hearing her angelic voice, just one more step to touch her pale skin, just one more step…_

_And yet…_

"_Mata meguru…"_

'_It repeats…'_

Len closed the book he was holding and placed it on its original place in the library. The bookworm was ultimately disappointed by the story he had just read. The maker of the story was one of his favorite, specialized in making stories from old times, and most of the endings ended in tears and death, but even though Len hated that kind of ending, the stories touched him. He could feel the feelings of the characters in the stories, and that made him always waited on the author's next works.

But, the book he had just read was a defect; a failure among literature. The story was titled 'Synchronicity', a story that took place in ancient time when the world's happiness is guarded by a singer that put dragon to sleep. As long as the singer kept on singing, the dragon shall remain asleep, and the world's safety was guaranteed. The plot was good, the art was perfect, and yet, the story had no ending.

The story was cancelled, and thus the ending was never revealed. The library held one copy of the finished work and at the end it's explained by who's probably the author's assistant that the story would not be continued.

"It'd be good if the songstress can be freed…" he said nonchalantly as he walked away.

It was only a wish from a reader.

A wish that happened to be the exact same wish the boy in the story made. The wish that was screamed with soundless voice as he reached out to his sister, the wish that could not be granted even if history repeat itself as the book read again and again.

'_You're right. It'd be good if that's the case, isn't it?'_

The blond haired boy stopped on his track. When he came to the library he was sure that no one was there, and he hadn't heard any voice indicating the door had been opened. And yet, a deep childish voice could be heard in the supposedly empty library.

'_Len Kagamine, do you truly wish that to happen?'_

His vision was getting dark, and he realized it was because something shone from his back. Len turned, and found the book he just read to float mid-air, the pages seemed to turn as it floats until it stopped at the page where the main character picked up a necklace from the ground.

"The beginning of the story… Don't tell me!"

Like in the failed literature, this story started when the main character picked up his sister's pendant from the ground, not realizing the grin of a masked figure hiding in the shadows not far behind him.

**I know I've said this before, but I lost my laptop and my datas. My muse ran away with it. So, I'll write this in return, dedicated to all unfinished story. Based on the most famous unfinished story on Vocaloid fandom, Synchronicity.**


	2. Chapter 1 : Arrival

The city was as crowded as he thought it would be.

Len walked casually amongst the crowd, not minding glances from the curious town folks. Apparently travelers didn't appear often in that city, or maybe it was because of his strange clothing.

"I can tell your fortune! Come; come if you want to know your fortune for this year!"

The town folks seemed to be interested with the man's words. Fortune telling was indeed famous at that time, although the matter about dragon was indeed the most popular topic since old times. Len paid the fortune-teller no mind as he walk passed him to find an inn to stay the night in.

"Yes, yes, the cost is 3 golden coins! Cheap for a year worth of fortune, right? Line up, line up!"

At the center of the city was a palace. The kingdom then wasn't ruled by a queen. Instead, an oracle ruled the land. The current oracle was a woman named Luka, who was deemed wise by the whole kingdom. She was not the one who relies on power, but instead she let scholars stay in her palace to help her give solutions to problems around the kingdom.

But, even without the scholars, she could deal with the problems easily. During her time, the kingdom was on its glory.

Even so, even with those facts, Len hated the oracle.

He hated her to the point of wanting to kill her. Of course, the oracle was an important figure, and sadly she was deemed just by the people of the kingdom. No one would help him in his quest to kill the oracle.

Because he couldn't expect help, he trained himself. He abandoned his love for books and knowledge and instead chose the path of violence. Len knew that his skill was not yet sufficient, but the time limit was getting near.

'If I don't do it soon… Rin will…'

The oracle was the one who ordered young girls with magic ability to be sent to calm the dragon in an unknown temple. Through their songs, the magic was used as lullaby for the dragon, and also for prayers for the world's happiness.

It's said when the song stops, then the world would cease to exist.

"Will the Songstress stop singing this year?" asked one of the town folks to the fortune-teller.

Upon hearing that question, Len stopped on his track. The fortune-teller grinned as he noticed that, and mumbled some kind of incantation, probably just to look convincing.

"She will. But you can be sure that the world will not be destroyed anytime soon," he answered with a laugh. The town folks seemed to be satisfied with the answer.

"That's right. If the Songstress stops singing, the oracle would replace her fast. So there's no need to worry about that."

Len clenched his fist. The sword on his side felt heavier, as though being asked to be used to kill everyone in that city. Being a Songstress used to be an honor. People used to respect the Songstress, and they saw Songstress as a hero. But, somehow people started to see them as disposable things.

"So! Anything else you want to know?"

"Nah, we just want to know about the Songstress. This one is pretty good, huh? Already 3 years since she sang, and she hasn't stop since!"

"Thanks by the way. Here are your coins."

"Your very much welcome. Now, if you'll excuse me…"

The current Songstress was a girl named Rin. She was taught to sing all her life and as soon as the last Songstress died, she sang in her place.

Rin also happened to be Len's sister. She was taken away when she's still baby, and all that was because the oracle foretold that her fate was to be a Songstress.

_'What bull… She's being sacrificed… '_

"How do you do, Len Kagamine!"

The fortune-teller hit Len on his back so hard that he nearly fell. If he wasn't lost in thought about Rin, Len would probably able to dodge it. Or maybe even though he wasn't, he wouldn't be able to. The taller man's words surprised him so that whichever the case he would froze in surprise.

That man knew his name.

"Oh sorry, did I hit you too hard?"

Len held his sword just in case, although he didn't want to make a scene, precaution was necessary. He turned around, and found the fortune-teller grinned with his hands on his hip. He was probably on his early twenty, but the Cheshire-grin he had showed that inside that tall body of his existed soul of a child.

And that playful voice… Len swore he had heard it before.

"You're looking for an inn, right? You can stay with me if you like. The room I rent has two beds anyway. Come on, let's go."

"Ha? Wa-wait…"

Len had the feeling that he should follow the mysterious fortune-teller. Even though it was a fortune-teller's job to know things, Len wasn't the type of person that believes in prophecies.

"I said wait, damn it!"

"Wow, what a language… Never thought a bookworm like you know such language. Well, I blame culture-shock, so it's partly my fault, isn't it?"

_'His… fault?'_

"It's been what, three years? Last time I saw you, you were panicking like an idiot! Running in circles, screaming something about impossibility, and then you stopped, and after exact five minutes you screamed again. It was very amusing, I tell you."

Len opened his mouth involuntarily, and he realized his hand had become sweaty and trembled.

"You… you..."

Why didn't he realize that earlier? That voice, that childish voice, it was the very voice that he heard before he's sent to 'Synchronicity'.

But… then something went amiss…

There's no fortune-teller in the book except for the oracle. And the man that he followed obviously wasn't the oracle. The oracle was a woman, for God sake. So, if he never appeared in the story…

"What are you?" Len asked finally.

"Nice choice of word. If you asked who, then I'd answer Kaito Shion, magician and fortune-teller. I see you still remember the story. Well, the answer to the question 'what' would be…"

At that moment, it was as if the whole city decided to become silent to make sure Len heard his answer. Still walking, Kaito looked at the blue sky and said, "Kaito Shion, Guardian of Synchronicity."

**I've heard somewhere that in the summary, Kaito's role wasn't mentioned. And... I've heard somewhere that this project is cancelled. The third song won't ever be published. I hope HitoshizukuP change his/her mind. **


	3. Chapter 2 : Guardian

The room Kaito rent was surprisingly wide, with two bunks of bed just as he said. Len stood by the door watching with disbelief as Kaito literally jumped to the bed. He had thought that Kaito would start a dark serious thought as soon as they reached the inn, but he was wrong.

Kaito fell asleep in an instant.

"What the hell? Wake up! Shouldn't you give explanations or something?"

"Haa? No... No explanations… You've been here for three years already, so you must already know everything… And you know the whole story, right? Now let me sleep… Using magic makes me tired…," he answered lazily.

"AT LEAST TELL ME WHY IN THE FREAKING HELL YOU SENT ME HERE, DAMN IT!"

Kaito sat on the side of the bed, rubbed his head, and stared confusedly at Len who was panting after screaming on top of his lungs. "What do you mean 'why'? You wished for this."

Len tried hard to fight the urge to kill the blue haired man. "I didn't… wish to be sent here…"

"Okay, listen here. You said, and I quote 'It'd be good if the Songstress can be freed', and being a nice Guardian, I granted your wish. Now you can free that Songstress. Congratulation!"

"I can't understand your logic at all! By the way, what the hell is 'guardian'?"

"Guardian is like… hmmm… It's kind of hard to explain… Ah. Guardian is like the one who makes sure the story completes. If the story he/she guards is already complete, then that Guardian is lucky. His/her job is done without a pain, after all."

Despite his bright mind, Len didn't understand Kaito's explanation at all. Not one bit.

"He/she can then live in the aftermath. Now, as for me, sadly I'm assigned to 'Synchronicity', which is not going to be continued. This story… this world… once the main character reached the temple and beat the enemies, time stops and return to the beginning. Sometimes even before that," Kaito continued as he shifted. At that time, for the first time Len could heard the pain behind his childish carefree voice.

"You know the story of Cinderella? The fairy Godmother there is the story's Guardian. We Guardians have magic power, and that magic is used to call another person to play the role of main character. In this case, that'd be you, Len. And we must assist that person with all cost. Calling a person from another world is like last resort, you know?"

Kaito stopped talking, and looked Len straight in the eye. "If you can't complete this story, then this world would cease to exist, and I will disappear along with it."

Len still didn't understand most of what Kaito said, but he did understand that he and Kaito were on the same boat. No, maybe his fate was worse. If Len died here, not that he wanted to test it, there's a chance that he'd return to his original world. But, at that moment, Kaito would die.

"You said it's hard to explain, yet you speak so much about it…" Len said finally as he sat next to Kaito.

"It's easy to explain my job. I can't answer how I born though. I just appear in this world knowing all that. Maybe I'm part of the author… I don't know."

"… I see… You're having identity crisis."

"I am not! I told you before and I'll say it again! I'm Kaito Shion, magician and fortune-teller!"

"Okay, okay I understand… At least the reason why… I need more information so answer my questions, understood?"

"Fire away."

"If I save Rin, I'll be able to return to my world, right?"

"Of course. Once this story completes you have no reason to be here at all. You'll return faster than you can say 'fin'."

"That's a relief… Second, the main character and the Songstress, they're both twin siblings according to the story."

Kaito nodded. "Yep, that's right. You know of her existence from your depressed mother, and you travel to the east to find her. What's wrong with that?"

"… In the story… they never for once spoke to each other, right?"

"Not that I know of… The Songstress should know nothing about having a family, much less a twin brother. Besides she's trapped in the hidden temple, so communication should be impossible. Hm? What's wrong? Your face is pale all of a sudden."

The blonde boy didn't answer. There was something he wanted to find answer to, but he's too afraid to find out. Truth to be told, he realized from three years ago that there're too much inconsistency between the events he experienced and the story he knew.

But for that moment, he decided to keep quiet about it. At least… until he's completely sure. Kaito seemed to know the whole story, so he can be asked but…

"Never mind that… You said you will help me at any cost, right?"

Kaito beamed at that. Len didn't know how long he had lived, because he said time repeats over and over in that world, but he figured nothing much happened in his life. Kaito seemed to look forward to action.

"We'll break into the castle tomorrow, kill the oracle, and find your sister in the hidden temple, right? I'm ready!"

_'At least he looks strong… and he knows magic… and I have an ally…'_

"Good. I want you to kidnap a scholar. A scholar should know the location of the hidden temple… and I'm supposed to travel with one anyway. And while you're at it, make some kind of diversion. More chaotic the better. Less people will be guarding the oracle that way."

"Kidnap a scholar, make a mess. Got it." Kaito yawned as soon as the words escaped his lips. He seemed to be telling the truth about magic making him tired. The sun hadn't set yet, and he was already half asleep. Len sighed, and poked him in the forehead. Kaito fell to the bed, his head landing perfectly on the pillow.

"Sleep."

"… Finally…"

Len stood and moved to the other bed beside Kaito's. After long journey, he admitted that he's tired himself. Unlike Kaito who didn't even took of his robe, and Len wondered how he could sleep comfortably in that, Len took off his thick sleeveless jacket and boots.

And silent consumed the room.

Even so, Len held his knees together as he tried to ignore the singing voice that echoed in his mind.

"Ah… I forgot to ask about his prophecy earlier… his confession is too shocking… I forgot…"

The singing voice that only he could hear… the voice that told him that he still had time… the voice that would disappear at the end of artificial paradise…

"I'm sorry… Rin…"

* * *

**Explanations, explanations…**

**HARLEE! I understand completely now the pain of being a senior! I hate it! =A= btw, the reason why Len hated luka will be explained later. Enjoy.**


	4. Chapter 3 : Past

When Kaito opened his eyes, Len was polishing his sword by the window with only the full moon as source of light. For a second, his face that was framed with golden locks seemed like it belonged to another person. Kaito rubbed his eyes to make sure, and the stranger's face turned back to the usual frowning face that belonged to Len.

"If you and the Songstress are twins… then she must look like this, huh? Smiling face doesn't suit you at all," Kaito said as he stretched his hands.

"You sure have foul mouth…"

"Hehe. I'm just one honest guy. Please don't ever smile again near me. You lose every sign of being a man when you do." Len didn't respond to this, and Kaito merely grinned at the smile that was formed in the blonde boy's mouth.

And then he yawned. "But really… Looking at what you're doing, I honestly think you'll wake me up with that sword in my neck, and tell me we're good to go…"

Len continued on polishing his sword, until finally he let the moon light it shines on the sword. His grim expression as he did so made Kaito gulp.

"Se… seriously? Hey, Len! I'm begging you, please laugh it off! On second thought, don't laugh! Just say I'm an idiot or silly or whatever! Len!"

* * *

_'It's weird… when you smile you look a lot like me.'_

_'So…should I stop smiling? I don't want to be seen as a girl…'_

_'Oh, please don't stop smiling. When you do… it feels like I have a family…'_

* * *

As a scholar, Gakupo Kamui knew a lot of things.

There was no book in the Royal Library that he hadn't read, and he had memorized them all by heart. Of course, as a scholar it was his job to study and help solve problems in the kingdom, so that was not a strange thing.

"What in the world are you doing?"

As a scholar, Gakupo's job was to study what's already prepared by the oracle.

He, and so did all other scholars, was not allowed to doubt the presented facts.

"I'm working. Reading this journal to be exact. Looks like some area at south have become dry over the summer… I need to design a new irrigation system. What does it look like?"

The oracle was wrong, that was one fact he believed in. It wasn't right to sent people there just because she told them to, and to have them sing lullaby for a dragon of all things…

Many had died since the time when people don't bother record facts, and Gakupo had wished with his position as a scholar, the oracle would hear him out. He had hoped to convince the oracle to let her army kill the dragon on its sleep.

The current Songstress should be the last Songstress…

"Like you're plotting a rebellion. The oracle has her eyes on you, you know?"

"Her eyes are on you too, Meiko. You know that."

Meiko Sakine often accompanied him in his studies. The swordswoman had noble blood flowing in her veins, but her dedication to the kingdom made her choose sword over marriage; great choice in Gakupo's opinion. He'd also choose to be a scholar if he had to choose between it and marriage.

"… After that incident, she always has her eyes one both of us…"

_'That incident… three years ago… Has it really been three years?'_

"Since you snapped when the last Songstress…"

Meiko gritted her teeth and threw the closest book she could find at Gakupo. He didn't even flinch when the book missed him just a bit. Meiko didn't want to hear the continuance of his words, but even her sword couldn't stop Gakupo from talking.

"Since Teto Kasane, your best friend, died."

"She died as hero! Yet, she…"

Gakupo flipped the page of the journal he was reading. "Was she? Her name is not written in our list of heroes. In fact, the oracle erased all Songstress names from the list."

The red head knew that tears had started to form in her eyes as her vision became blurry. She swallowed the lump that formed in her throat, and said surprisingly without shaking, "She is my hero…"

Gakupo didn't talk back after that. He knew how much Teto meant to Meiko. Probably just as much as…

_'… As she meant to me…'_

"And you too… Ever since you claimed the oracle is possessed by devil… That's original. What were you thinking?" Meiko folded her hands as she asked him that.

The purple haired man didn't answer. Although he didn't say the reason, Meiko realized that it was because the oracle didn't just keep her eyes at them.

She also had her ears at them, and one of her ears could be there at the library, listening to the two's conversation.

"Do you remember, Gakupo… Three years ago, someone vowed to kill the oracle…" Meiko tried to change the topic, but at that time the only thing that interests her was the matter surrounding the oracle. To be exact, things that happened three years before when for the first time since hundreds of years someone protested about the ways of the oracle.

"Who? You?"

"… It was Teto's replacement's brother, if I'm not mistaken," Meiko didn't say no to Gakupo's words. Gakupo tried to fight the urge to laugh at that.

"That's weird. Luka-sama didn't order any search on anyone. Not then, not now. Are you sure this happened?"

Gakupo was sure the oracle would search the whole kingdom for the boy's head. It's a surprising thing if something like that didn't happen.

"She's smart. There's no need to look for someone who would come to get you. She hired a mercenary in case he comes instead. What was his name again… the one-eyed mercenary she hired… Yoku?"

The mercenary that started working in the palace three years ago never talk to anyone, so it was no wonder that the two didn't know about him very well. Even Gakupo, who supposedly knew everything didn't know about him and just shrugged.

"Ruko Yokune," a young man with eye-patch covering one of his eyes smiled as he said that. He was tall, nearly two meters high, and if he let down the twin tails, his dark hair would probably reached his chest.

Neither Gakupo nor Meiko knew when he came. When they realized it, he was already standing not far from them, a history book on his hand.

"Ri… right… Ruko…"

Even so, both of them knew that the mercenary they were talking about was him, and they also realized that he was probably also the oracle's eye and ear. Meiko suddenly had the sudden urge to leave the room. For so many reasons, she's not so comfortable being around the tall man. "I have some errands to do… Catch you later, Gakupo."

Gakupo waved his hand in respond. When he averted his gaze from the book, both Meiko and Ruko had disappeared from the library.

**Alas, my dear friend, I can't… I'm awake when you're asleep, and I'm asleep when you're awake…**

**TTATT**


	5. Chapter 4 : Magic

_"Please! You've got to help her! She's going to die!" _

Meiko didn't believe in those words, and because of that her best friend died. No matter what her colleagues said, she could not forget the fact.

It was also probably because her colleagues didn't care about the dead Songstress, and so they're not really good at consoling her. Hell, they said it was wrong to cry for her.

Gakupo did not console her, but at least he didn't say it was wrong to cry for a mere Songstress. And for that, she was grateful.

For the blonde boy who warned her, she was also grateful.

After she snapped and basically tried to kill everyone that said bad things about Teto, she saw the world in different light, mostly about how the world seemed to warn her beforehand, and it was her choice to ignore it.

Whoever up there in heaven was kind enough to give her signs, and she prayed to heaven every night in hope that the kind being above would always give her signs in the future.

"So… Meiko, was it?"

At that moment though, she cursed whoever heavenly being that made Ruko followed her back to her room in dormitory.

"… Yes. Meiko Sakine, at your service…"

She stopped, turned and bowed at the taller man. Ruko was grinning, and seeing that brought chill to Meiko's spine. Under her metal armor she was trembling. There was something strange about Ruko that made him different from normal human being.

"Ah, that's a relief. I thought I may have to use a bit of violence. I'm glad you turned yourself to me like this. You're truly a good girl, Meiko."

Meiko's eyes were locked at the floor. For some reason, she couldn't force her own body to stop bowing.

_'Eh? Is that…'_

Ruko dropped something. It was black cloth, and Meiko tried to remember where it could have been from. And then, she realized where it came from.

But before she could react, Ruko pulled her chin up with one hand while the other pulled Meiko closer until her brown eyes met his.

"Now, Meiko… Look into my eye…"

Ruko's eyes were wide mismatched red and blue, and looking at that dazed Meiko. Anyone would be if such strange eyes were to be shown at point blank. The two eyes that seemed to be able to see through Meiko… such beautiful eyes that somehow made her dizzy like after drinking oldest and most delicious wine…

_'Huh… why am I… feeling dizzy? And… my body is…'_

For some reason, Meiko can't feel her own body. Her mind screamed curses at Ruko, and also at the fact that she couldn't move, let alone run from Ruko. The only thing she could do was watch in horror as Ruko said something she couldn't hear.

And everything turned dark.

Ruko smiled in satisfaction as Meiko's body turned limp, and he let her fall just like unwanted old puppet. But, before her body could reach the floor, someone caught her, and even though his purple hair hid his face, Ruko knew who the man was.

"My, my… I must admit I can't see you as a stalker type… You're better than I thought… To think I didn't sense you."

Gakupo had expected Ruko to do something to Meiko when no one's looking, and thus followed them. His suspicion had been proven correct, although he couldn't stop whatever he did to Meiko.

"What did you do to her?"

The brown eyes that were so lively were lifeless. Meiko's eyes didn't shut, but it's not like she was conscious. Gakupo had tried waving his hand in front of her eyes, but she didn't react at all.

Ruko shrugged.

"Nothing. Isn't that right, Meiko?"

Still on Gakupo's arms, Meiko answered without any tone on her voice, "Yes… Ruko-sama…"

That voice was definitely Meiko's, but at the same time it wasn't. Her voice was usually filled with dignity and demanding, probably due to her noble background. The voice that came from her mouth was the exact opposite. It was as if spoken by a servant.

No… it was as if spoken by a doll.

Gakupo gritted his teeth, and put her gently on the floor. "I'm sorry. I'll do something about it, so please wait for a while…"

It was his job to solve problems, and of course Meiko's problem had become his number one priority. A friend's problem was his own problem after all. Thinking that, he stood and revealed hidden blade under his sleeve to the still grinning man.

"I repeat… what did you do to her?"

"I didn't do anything. She said so too."

"She's not even conscious!"

Ruko laughed. "You've looked at my eyes this long and not affected… My loss...", and right after that, he clapped his hands. Once… twice…

The sound of metal clinking could be heard, signaling that Meiko had moved. Gakupo didn't move. He still pointed his blade at Ruko, who merely smiled and put his hands in the air as if giving up."Are you okay, Meiko?"

"Meiko… what are you…"

Gakupo had thought that whatever Ruko did had been canceled by the clapping. He was wrong. The claps turned out to be the activation signal. When he realized it, Meiko was already behind him with her sword on his neck.

* * *

Len was glad he had Kaito by his side. His magic ability saved him lots of time and money. He had thought that he'd need to go to an informant to know about certain secret entrances, thus needing a lot of money, but turns out Kaito could use teleportation magic.

"But this magic can only lead to place that I know well. That's why don't ask me to teleport us to the oracle's chamber. I've never been there."

"That's fine. Just send me to the yard."

If it's only the yard, even though he had never set foot there, Kaito should know well of that place. Everyone in the kingdom should. The gate to the palace was mostly open to allow troubled people come and ask advice from the scholars.

Even so, not everyone could come in. Sometimes when the problem is simple enough, the scholar will go out and meet the troubled instead.

But for Len, that's enough.

"Are you sure… we're only taking the scholar? Aren't we supposed to travel with a warrior also?"

Just by himself was enough… a scholar was a necessity, and with Kaito's magic… a warrior was not needed.

_'It's… it's her destiny to become a Songstress! Guards! Take him away!"_

Yes… Len didn't need someone that didn't trust him.

Someone like that was definitely… certainly… would just be a bother.

"We don't need her. Your magic is sufficient…"

"If you say so…" Kaito didn't ask more questions. He started reciting the spell, and Len instinctively shut his eyes as Kaito's hand glowed. When he opened his eyes, the scenery had changed to a place he'd never seen before and Kaito was no longer beside him.

* * *

**Why… why must I go to cram school in holiday… I want my holiday… DX**


End file.
